Warren Spector and Blizzard COO to create gaming academic academy

Warren Spector and Blizzard COO Paul Sams are collaborating with The University of Texas at Austin to found the school’s first academic video game program led by industry veterans. The Denius-Sams Gaming Academy will open its doors Fall 2014.

In a press release issued last night, Spector and Sams were confirmed as part-time instructors at the academy, and Spector will also serve as co-chair of the academy’s advisory board. The course will last 12 months and successful students will walk away with a postbaccalaureate certificate, which will help them break into the Texas games industry and beyond.

The state houses America’s second-largest concentration of game companies, and is a rich source of jobs for aspiring students. As part of the course, students will create a small game from the ground up, as proof of their skills.

Spector issued a statement on the news which read, “What differentiates the Denius-Sams Gaming Academy is that it will focus explicitly on the bigger creative leadership aspects of game development -on the management and production side and on the creative leadership side. This is a space that’s not being filled by the other programs, and it will make the academy unique.”

What do you make of the course? Do we need more academic schools like this to help train a new wave of coders? Let us know below.